Forest Oil Shares Plunged: What You Need to Know

Although we don't believe in timing the market or panicking over market movements, we do like to keep an eye on big changes -- just in case they're material to our investing thesis.

What: Shares of Forest Oil (NYS: FST) fell 12% today, as oil prices in general fell, and the company completes a spinoff.

So what: Oil is down nearly 2% as I'm writing and has put pressure on oil and gas explorers like Forest Oil and Kodiak Oil & Gas (NYS: KOG) . The company also completed the distribution of 70 million shares of Lone Pine Resources (NYS: LPR) to shareholders after the market close on Friday.

Now what: The entire sector is selling off, so I wouldn't panic over the company-specific move here. The market is still trying to figure out how to handle a potential slowdown in China and debt problems in Europe, so the volatility day to day can be extreme. Today's move doesn't materially change the investment thesis in Forest Oil, but the overall economic picture will likely continue to dominate its stock price in the short term.

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